USDA, ARS, Pacific West Area, 800 Buchanan St., Albany, CA 94710

66 -- RHEOMETER SOL 91H2-FG-685 DUE 091198 POC Fred Gifford 510-559-6017 fax 510-559-6023 WEB: NA, NA. E-MAIL: NA, gifford@ars.usda.gov. The USDA ARS PWA Office in Albany, Ca. has a requirement for a Rheometer which must work in both controlled stress and controlled rate modes. Torque measurements are required over the range of 0. 000I to IOOmNm. Angular displacements must be accurate to 0.62 microrads or better. The instrument shall be capable of operating over the temperature range of at least -IO to 99.9 deg C. using a Peltier plate system controlled to within 0. I deg C, have an automatic gap set feature- use a drag cup motor designed to generate torque without the need to correct for motor heating via thermocouple during operation, Use air bearings include a rheology oscillation software program for instrument operation and simultaneous data analysis. The oscillation package shall include capabilities for at least manual ramps, stress ramps, frequency ramps, strain ramps, and temperature ramps. The software shall be Windows 95 or NT based with the ability to toggle back and forth between the operating and analysis software while the instrument is in operation. The software shall provide for automatic macro generation by recording actual keystrokes. The instrument shall include parallel plates for sample geometry. The instrument shall have options for adding normal force measurement, operation and analysis in creep and in flow modes and a variety of versions of cone, plate and concentric cylinder sample geometries. The vendor shall supply the complete system except for compressed air and electrical power. The vendor shall supply on-site training. Two copies of the instructions and service manuals shall be supplied. Solicitation packages will be available for prospective bidders on August 3, 1998. Requests for RFQ's can be requested by fax or mail directed to the attention of Fred Gifford as listed in this announcement. Posted 07/27/98 (W-SN228724). (0208)

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